AIT spearheads 2nd phase of major EU cybersecurity research effort

Researchers from Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) have launched the second phase of PROTECTIVE, an EU-funded cybersecurity research project.

Dr. Mary Pidgeon, Software Research Institute, AIT

Researchers from Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) have launched the second phase of PROTECTIVE, an EU-funded cybersecurity research project. This €4.16 million cybersecurity safety net is designed to help organisations pinpoint and alleviate threats to their computer networks.

Now in its ‘operation testing’ phase, PROTECTIVE uses a smart awareness tool for cybersecurity management and an enhanced threat awareness system to improve security monitoring and shared threat intelligence. It shields networks from viruses and worms and gives security teams greater visibility and awareness of attacks.

According to Mary Pidgeon, a project PROTECTIVE research engineer at AIT’s Software Research Institute (SRI), cybercrime is a world-scale problem of prodigious proportions. To combat this, Mary and her colleagues are trying to improve the awareness of the risk posed by these attacks.

“Our hope is that our software will ultimately form part of a network monitoring kit. It will share information on attacks with other network monitoring organisations and provide a model of the network that shows which are the critical assets. By creating a system through which data and security information can be collected, processed and shared, organisations can enjoy enhanced decision-making capabilities.”